National Entrepreneur Award 2016 goes to Koskisen Oy

The
National Entrepreneur Award of Finland is public recognition of exemplary
entrepreneurship. The esteemed award aims to highlight the importance of
entrepreneurs who show initiative and dare to take financial risks to our
economy, while at the same time encouraging a greater appreciation of
entrepreneurship in our society. The award criteria take into account
particularly the company’s productivity, product development, business idea,
growth, employment impacts and effective use of capital.

The
National Entrepreneur Award has a long history. In 1968, the Federation of
Finnish Enterprises (Suomen Yrittäjät) and Fennia insurance company wanted to
raise the status of entrepreneurship by encouraging and rewarding successful
entrepreneurs. This led to the National Entrepreneur Award, which has been
granted to hundreds of enterprises and private individuals over the years.

Committed to Wood

The products made by Koskisen – plywood, birch veneer,
chipboard, sawn timber, roof trusses and wood elements – can be found in every
corner of the world. The reference sites include designer furniture, interior
decoration elements, concert halls, wooden blocks of flats and schools. The
more common industrial end uses for plywood are, however, ship construction
materials and construction site scaffolding boards. Wood has endless
possibilities.

“The ability to solve the customer’s problems and knowledge
of the properties of wood play an important role. There must be an
understanding of how the customer’s business is developing. Our entire business
is based on having satisfied customers,” Koskisen’s Managing Director, Markku
Koskinen, sums up.

Wood product exports on the rise

According to the Koskinen siblings, “Europe’s
importance as a market area is declining. China’s interest in wood, however, is
growing. We have our own sales office in China, with a local employee who is familiar
with the culture and business.”

Exports account for more than 90 per cent of
Koskisen’s plywood products, and nearly 80 per cent of the Group’s sawn timber
production is exported. Wood products are marketed and sold in 11 countries
through the Group’s own sales offices.

Wood procurement is also handled by the company
itself, through Koskitukki. “We utilise all of the wood that comes through our
doors. We make chipboard from our own chips, and Koskitukki also handles raw
material deliveries for bioenergy production and the pulp and paper industry,”
lists Markku. The integrated mills in Järvelä are home to the only remaining
chipboard mill in Finland.

Evolving hand-in-hand with customers

“The balconies and huge ceiling structure in Poland’s
Katowice concert hall were made from KoskiBirchUp panels. The special birch
product really accentuates the space and has excellent acoustic properties,”
says a proud Kari Koskinen, Vice Chairman of the Board of the parent
company Koskitukki, and director of business development for the company’s
Russian operations.

Nearly all of Koskisen’s products are nowadays made to
order, but pre-cut sawn timber in certain dimensions can be found in storage.

“Our strengths are the ability to try new things and
develop. You can’t stay up to date by following past recipes for success,” the
brothers agree. And in the same breath they enthusiastically cite decorative
products, wood elements and retractable roof innovations based on roof trusses
for the consumer sector, as well as professional building solutions, from
single-family homes to blocks of flats. “In recent years, we have invested
strongly in the further processing of large and massive elements.”

Family business comes with an obligation and the
courage to move forward

“For us, job security is a built-in feature. It is a
major driver for us, knowing that the fathers and even aunts of our employees
have also worked here. We want to turn a profit in order to make employment
possible,” says member of the Board of Directors and the Group’s Responsibility
and Brand Director, Eva Wathén, on the importance of entrepreneurship.

Ever since it was founded, Koskisen has learned that
excellence can only be achieved by fully committing oneself. Koskisen’s motto
“Committed to Wood” is printed on the back of the company’s workwear.

The three children of Kalevi Koskinen, son of the
founder of the company, Kalle Koskinen, are taking the more than 100-year-old
wood-processing company forward. The fourth generation of Koskinens is already
working in Järvelä. They inherited their bold entrepreneurial spirit from their
forefathers, who survived the depression of the 1930s.

“This is a sunrise industry. A great future lies ahead
of the business. All matters related to wood and nature are important to
people,” Wathén sums up.

Topics

Contact

Would you like more info, send a story or give feedback? Contact us or fill in the form below.

Address

Tehdastie 2, Järvelä

Chief editors phone

Krista Kihlman, 0400 106 386

Email

krista.kihlman@koskisen.com

Thank you!

Name

Email

Phone number

Message

Koskisen Group can send me marketing messages.

By leaving your contact details you accept the saving and use of your personal data in accordance with the website’s Terms of Use. You can cancel your consent at any time. We save information for the company’s own use. Identification data is handled confidentially. We do not disclose your contact details to third parties.
Read our Privacy Statement.